“We have noticed the My Suva Picnic Park area is always flooded with people, who go there and dump their rubbish, they do not bother to properly dispose of it,” she said.

Ms Pratap said a study conducted by the group showed that there was absence of marine ecosystems along the foreshore area.

“We have also noticed that the sea creatures that used to live along that area are absent.

“Small crabs and fishes that used to be there are no longer there because there has been a lot of rubbish dumped in the area. “We hope that the mangroves we planted will provide a home for these creatures.”

Ms Pratap added PSP conducted clean-ups and planted more than 900 mangrove seedlings every month as part of their conservation efforts.

She said the clean-ups unearthed a lot of plastic bags, beer bottles as well as wrappers and takeaway food containers